What is going on with Kanye?

We all know that Kanye West is a man with no filter. He has an enormous case of foot in the mouth disease. I mean, we all remember his stunt during the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 when he notoriously interrupted Taylor Swift, mid acceptance speech and claimed that Beyonce deserved the award. He has apologised multiple times but, the moment has definitely stuck.

Some people would day that Kanye has towering arrogance and an uncontrolled narcissism that borders on God Complex. But one thing that cannot be denied is that he is a business mogul, I don't know anyone who doesn't know Yeezy.

He is an infamous rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and fashion designed. He has done it all, but he wanted to add presidency to this list.

For his fourth of July declaration, West took to twitter to announce his running for president in 2020: “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION."

He got a lot of notable endorsement from his wife Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk, who, Forbes revealed, is guiding Kanye and will be in charge of the space program should he win.

He is running under the theme of "the birthday party" because "when he wins its gonna be everyone's birthday." Whilst a fun sentiment, may be slightly gratuitous given the current state of the world. What happens at the end of the birthday party and is a clown the entertainment?

As you can see, there are mixed reactions to West running, which is understandable due to his own endorsement of President Donald Trump, which took precedence in 2019.

As well as wearing a MAGA cap, pictured below, Kanye called Trump his brother and declared that he understood his policies.

"I just love Trump, that's my boy. Trump is one of rap's favourite people. I'm in hip-hop, but I'm not just hip-hop. I'm part of a black community. People try to minimise me to artist, hip-hop, black community. I'm always going to represent that, but I also represent the world."

However, in his recent Forbes interview crowning the beginning of his campaign, he renounced Trump. He said, "I am taking the red hat off, with this interview." This is questionable, because is he only renouncing Trump to siphon off black votes from the democratic nominee and to make him more likeable by the public?

He continued his problematic tirade in 2019 by saying that slavery was a "choice"

"When you hear about slavery for 400 years... For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it's all y'all? It's like we're mentally in prison. I like the word "prison" because "slavery" goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery, Holocaust, Holocaust, Jews, slavery is blacks. So prison is something that unites us as one race. Blacks and whites are one race—we're the human race."

To say that slavery is a choice is deluded, insensitive, hurtful and demeaning. He is insinuating that black people willingly participated in their own suppression for centuries. He also goes further to say that he is against the segregation of votes in the Black community and that it is a form of racism and white supremacy to say that Black people need to be democrat.

So yes, it is an understatement and understandable that people are concerned about his running for presidency.

He kicked off his campaign rally in Charleston which was roughly an hour long, and he alienated many attendees from the off by declaring that

Harriet Tubman; american abolitionist and political activist, “never actually freed the slaves; she just had them work for other white people." One video is very comedic as an attendee states "we need to leave."

He advocated for pro-life; tearfully bringing up previous abortion qualms surrounding his own birth and his daughter, North West's birth's by revealing that they both could have been aborted. When he burst into tears it was unsettling to watch and you can't help but wonder if its a cry for help?

This spiral continues to Twitter where he released a plethora of tweets on Monday 20th claiming that his spouse, Kim Kardashian was trying to get him hospitalised.

"Kim tried to bring a doctor, to lock me up with a doctor."

This was among a stretch of wide-ranging tweets, another was when he claimed the film; Get Out was based on him:

“Kim was trying to fly to Wyoming with a doctor to lock me up like on the movie Get Out because I cried about saving my daughters life yesterday.”

His Twitter rant gets personal, with Kanye alleging that Kim is a white supremacist, and claimed that he has been trying to divorce her for the past two years. Ever since she met with Meek Mill, Kanye indicated that she was unfaithful.

He also targeted his mother-in-law Kris and branded her as "Kris Jong - Un", and he targeted her for arranging "your children's playboy shoots." This references Kim's photo-shoot for the magazine in 2007 and Kylie Jenner's in 2019.

He added: "I put my life on my God that Norths mom would never photograph her doing playboy and that's on God."

Many of Kanye's tweets have since been deleted after his rampage, but he left fury, scrutiny and concern in his wake.

Kanye's friends and family have come forward with concern and believe he is in the middle of an episode as a result of his bipolar-ism.

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder is a neurological brain disorder that causes people to feel extreme emotions and can often cause symptoms similar to that of depression.

Kanye West has previously confirmed in interviews that he has bipolar disorder, he calls is a "superpower." In an interview with David Letterman, West once explained what it was like to go through an "episode"

"When you're in this state, you're hyper-paranoid about everything," he said.

"Everyone – this is my experience, other people have different experiences – everyone now is an actor. Everything's a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you're being recorded. You feel all these things," he said. "You pretty much don't trust anyone."

Kim Kardashian took to Instagram and has recently come forward, confirming that Kanye is in the middle of an episode and is asking for compassion and understanding.

"As many of you know, Kanye has [bipolar] disorder, those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words [sometimes] do not align with his intentions."

Given that nature of this episode, and despite the stigma of an armchair diagnosis and Kanye's friends and family's concerns, it seems that he is unwell at the moment. And it brings forth the question of the mental health stigma with men and how society treats it. Why is it not taken as seriously?

During this time, perhaps people have been scrutinising Kanye's actions and using them as sources of conversation, or even mocking him, joking about how unhinged he seems and shrinking the severity of the situation, or saying that his actions are to promote his upcoming album.

Why is it that Kanye's experience is being hailed as attention seeking rather than approached with concern? Whilst his statements are a problem, is mental health a bigger one? Should we approach Kanye with a dose of charity?

Are we complicit in this behaviour by feeding the drama?

Many people dealing with bipolar disorder may experience their episodes around their personal circle, while Kanye is exposed to the entire world.

Both circumstances are different but they should still be treated with empathy and compassion.This is an opportunity to talk about bipolar disorder, and mental health issues surrounding men and to destigmatize them. The more we talk, the more we learn but we must not treat it as a joke to tweet about.

Maybe it is time to discuss the mental health awareness that we so advocate for, but if we cannot do that, or provide empathy and compassion then maybe we should provide silence.

Reportedly, Kanye has since dropped out of the presidential race.